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I’ve been meaning to add a share counter to posts on Lawyerist for a while now, and I finally sat down to figure it out. There are plugins for this, of course, but I wanted something fast and simple that I could place and style just the way I want it.

I found lots of information out there, but a lot of it is outdated, incomplete, or just doesn’t work. After some trial and error, I figured out a simple solution that works. Since I couldn’t find a copy-and-paste guide anywhere else, here it is.

I just took my new Blade Nano QX RTF Quadcopter out of its box, and of course I was antsy to start flying immediately. So while the battery charged, I flipped through the instructions, which consist of: the back of the controller, a card included in the bag with the spare parts, and the actual manual.

In order figure out what I needed to know to start flying, I felt like I was analyzing a legal statute because the bits of information you need to know, like how to tell when the battery is done charging, are spread out all over. So while my battery charges for my second flight, I figured I would put together a quick-start guide with all you need to know, in the order you need to know it.

Modern businesses use a variety of apps and tools to keep track of work and get work done. And most of those apps and tools include some kind of messaging system. At Lawyerist, for example, we use Gmail and Slack for communication, but we also use Google Docs, Teamwork, and Trello, each of which has its own built-in messaging.

And some of our tools have more than one kind of messaging. In Teamwork, for example, you can leave comments on just about anything, including messages.1 And while Slack is mostly just a stream of messages, you can also comment on uploaded files or text snippets. Google Docs has at least 3 kinds of messaging: (1) you can chat with other people currently viewing the document, (2) you can comment on any portion of the document, and (3) you can comment on suggested edits.

So if you need to refer back to a message, where do you go? It can be a problem. Our solution is simple, but it has been effective. Here is our general rule on communication:

I keep a pocket notebook with me at all times, for writing down anything and everything. My notebooks contain things I need to do around the house, article outlines, business ideas, meeting notes, and more. I like thin, pocket-sized notebooks because they are easier to carry and because it only takes 2–3 weeks to fill them up, which is a nice interval for processing their contents.

I’m explaining how I use my notebooks because the way I use them has a lot to do with which notebooks I prefer. So does the pen I carry everywhere with me — a Fischer Space Pen.

So, my notebooks need to last 2–3 weeks and they need to be able to survive being stored in my back pocket most of that time. And the paper needs to hold up to a Fischer Space Pen (which is roughly equivalent to most ballpoint pens). With those requirements in mind, here are the ones I have tried, and my thoughts on each.

These are the Minneapolis coffee shops where you can usually find me during coffice hours. All of them are excellent places to order plain espresso and espresso drinks, and some of them are also good places to sit and work.

When Leo Babauta wrote about Most-Important Tasks on Zen Habits, he titled his post “Purpose to Your Day.” I was reminded of what he meant last night when I found myself drifting from one thing to another in my hotel room during a conference. I did some writing, then I found myself playing a game. Then I sat down and flipped through a few browser tabs over and over. I didn’t feel like watching TV or reading my book because I knew I had work I should be doing, but I didn’t have a clear picture of what those things were or the motivation to do them, so I went through the motions without accomplishing anything.